The present invention relates to thermal ink-jet (TIJ) pens, and more particularly to a technique for attachment of a metal cover to the pen. TIJ technology is widely used in computer printers. Very generally, a TIJ includes a print head typically comprising several tiny controllable ink-jets, which are selectively activated to release a jet or spray of ink from an ink reservoir onto the print media (such as paper) in order to create an image or portion of an image. TIJ printers are described, for example, in the Hewlett-Packard Journal, Volume 36, Number 5, May, 1985, and Volume 39, Number 4, August, 1988.
An object of this invention is to provide a TIJ pen which includes an external pen frame structure fabricated of plastic, and a metal cover which is attached to the plastic frame structure to enclose an open region defined by the frame and protect an ink reservoir within the TIJ pen.
A further object is to provide a technique for rigidly attaching a metal cover to a plastic frame without the use of adhesives, screws, thermal, or ultrasonic processes.